Twenty-Seven

As soon as Ji Mianmian hid herself, the childlike evil spirit pushed the door open.

It appeared to be no older than five, dressed like it had just come home from kindergarten. It was chubby, wearing a kindergarten uniform, and carried a backpack. The short, stubby pants it wore were stained with dark red spots, like scattered plum blossoms—possibly blood.

In its mental space, the evil spirit had a physical form, but everything above its nose was still shrouded in a thick, black fog. Only a gaping, crimson mouth—stretched unnaturally wide—remained visible.

When Shuo Yu saw the small kitten it held in its hand, as if it were gripping a toy, her fists clenched tightly, and she ground her teeth.

More accurately, it was a miniature version of a cat-eared girl, shrunk to the size of a newborn kitten. The figure had a humanoid body and face, but with cat ears and a tail.

It looked like the evil spirit had created a version of Ji Mianmian as a baby—her eyes were still shut, and her face was wrinkled like a newborn's. Judging by the ginger and white patches on her cat ears and the black tip of her tail, it was likely how the evil spirit perceived Ji Mianmian in her infancy.

Remembering the evil spirit's earlier words—"Your fur feels so nice," and "I'll skin you and make gloves"—Shuo Yu felt more than just anger and heartache.

A deep sense of disgust and revulsion churned inside her, like her mind had been polluted by the spirit's twisted thoughts, almost making her physically ill.

She switched her view to the wardrobe where Ji Mianmian was hiding and saw the girl's vacant, unfocused eyes, as if she were entranced. When she noticed the doll-like figure of the "mini cat-eared girl" in the evil spirit's hand, Ji Mianmian seemed to connect with it on a deep, emotional level.

Her cat ears trembled, and she began to cry softly, covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face.

As Ji Mianmian's tears fell, the miniature cat-eared girl also started crying. But being so young, she wailed uncontrollably, much like a child having a meltdown.

The evil spirit, with its wide, blood-red mouth, cackled gleefully, squeezing the little cat-eared girl even tighter, saying, "Mimi, you smell so sweet. Cry louder for me!" It laughed, shouting, "Scream louder! Scream louder!"

The evil spirit seemed to grow larger with excitement, its body swelling slightly. Its pant legs, once long enough to cover its feet, now barely reached its ankles.

With each sob from the "mini cat-eared girl," the environment around them distorted, as if everything had been tossed into a washing machine. The sky and earth began spinning slowly, and the screen became dizzying to watch.

Cursing the game developers for creating such a horrific scene, Shuo Yu fought through her nausea, frantically moving the joystick, trying to find anything she could interact with.

After fumbling around, she discovered that the only thing she could do was flick the evil spirit on the head, dealing a pathetic -1 damage. Everything else was fake! No other interactive buttons appeared!

It was all up to Ji Mianmian now.

Shuo Yu's expression turned cold as her mind raced.

The evil spirit fed on the cats' fear, and this was its mental space…

Both she and Ji Mianmian had been taken here without warning, meaning they were the first to enter this mental realm.

The cat in its hand had to be fake!

The spirit was feeding on Ji Mianmian's fear. No wonder she was in such a dazed, entranced state!

"Hey, you little fatty!" Shuo Yu called out a few times, but when the evil spirit didn't respond, she realized it couldn't sense her presence.

Relieved, she gently spoke to Ji Mianmian. "Don't be afraid, sweetheart. It's me, Shuo Yu. That thing is an evil spirit, and the cat it's holding is just an illusion. It's not you, and it's not any other cat."

Her tone was soft yet firm. "I checked with No. 001—there's only one cat-eared girl on Cat Island, and that's you. You're the most special and unique one."

Ji Mianmian's eyes seemed to regain some clarity.

She stopped crying.

Looking around the narrow wardrobe, she seemed to be searching for the source of the voice.

Shuo Yu's voice remained gentle and reassuring. "Don't look for me, sweetheart. I'm far away, but I'm always with you. Don't be scared. Mianmian, wake up…"

She continued, "Remember? We just finished using the incense and defeated 17 evil spirits and five evil cats. We were sorting through the loot when we got pulled into this evil child's mental space. Wake up, and I'll help you take it down! You have your cat power bow, and you can easily pierce the evil spirit's body and destroy it."

Maybe it was Shuo Yu's familiar, comforting voice, or maybe it was the gentle touch on her ears that calmed her. Whatever the reason, Ji Mianmian's honey-colored eyes began to focus, and her expression brightened with determination.

"My bow… oh, right! I have my bow!"

With Shuo Yu's constant encouragement and calming words, Ji Mianmian fully awakened. Hugging her bow, she felt courage welling up inside her, fear dissipating.

Sensing that its "food" had been cut off, the evil spirit began to aggressively squeeze the "mini cat-eared girl" in its hand, its mouth wide open as drool dripped onto the figure's dress, staining it dark.

"Why aren't you scared anymore, little kitty? Cry for me! I'm going to skin you and make gloves, and I'll chew off your ears and tail! Aren't you scared?!"

It was clearly bluffing. The childlike evil spirit had no real means of direct attack and could only create illusions of the cats' most vulnerable, pitiful moments to manipulate their minds and feed off their fear.

But Ji Mianmian's mind was now filled with thoughts of Shuo Yu, worrying about her and feeling sad on her behalf.

She slowly pushed open the wardrobe door.

Stretching her arm out, she drew her longbow, nocking three fully charged cat power arrows at once and aiming them straight at the evil spirit.

"I'm not afraid! You're nothing but an illusion!"

For the island, these arrows, powered by cat energy, were like the best fertilizer, and for the cats, the arrows were the most nourishing supplement. But for the evil spirit, they were as dangerous as corrosive acid or molten lava.

The three arrows struck the black fog covering the evil spirit's face, and it immediately lost its humanoid form.

The eerie, cozy children's room began to crumble, collapsing into a swirling mass of black fog that could no longer coalesce into a solid shape.

The evil spirit screeched as it charged toward Ji Mianmian, like a starving vulture diving for a lion's kill.

But its movements were stopped by an invisible wall, followed by Shuo Yu's satisfied, triumphant voice.

"Once the evil spirit in its mental space turns into black fog, it can't move! Mianmian, use your cat power arrows and stab it! Don't bother with shooting—just grab the remaining arrows and stab it repeatedly!"

"Ji Mianmian, Ah Jin, and Little Flower stayed behind…"

After the battle ended and Shuo Yu had gathered the spoils, Little White meowed, discussing what to do next with Ji Mianmian.

But the next moment, Little White froze in terror.

Ji Mianmian was gone! And Shuo Yu, floating in midair, was gone too!

Little White quickly ran to its companions. "Ah Jin! Little Flower! Did Mianmian leave early? She didn't say anything… What? You didn't see her leave?"

Ah Jin, the most experienced of the group, stepped forward. After carefully sniffing and observing the area, it came to a sobering conclusion.

Ji Mianmian had been taken by an evil spirit.

The good news was that the evil spirit was likely weak. It had hidden during the battle and only dared to act after it was over, pulling Ji Mianmian into its mental space.

With Shuo Yu still by her side, Ji Mianmian's life should be safe.

The bad news was that the evil spirit's mental space could only hold one cat at a time, meaning they couldn't enter to rescue her.

They would have to wait for Ji Mianmian to come out on her own or for the sun to rise, revealing another entrance.

After waiting for a while and still not seeing any sign of them, Little White and the others decided to take the five rescued cats back home.

Although Shuo Yu wasn't there to activate the medical center and pay for treatment, they could still summon the mechanical arms to prepare food and comfort the rescued cats until Shuo Yu and Ji Mianmian returned.

With the last arrow purifying the evil spirit, the mental space collapsed completely.

The screen changed once again, and Shuo Yu and Ji Mianmian returned to Cat Island.

The image of the frightened, sobbing cat-eared girl from earlier was long forgotten.

Ji Mianmian bit her lip, frustrated, and smacked her head.

"Ah! I forgot to retrieve the arrows!" Ji Mianmian said, feeling annoyed with herself.

The cat power arrows were modified from regular arrows, and after their energy was depleted, they could be perfectly recovered. Once recharged, they could be used again, making them highly eco-friendly.

As Shuo Yu finished collecting the glowing items dropped on the ground, she smiled with a glint of amusement in her eyes. "It dropped a 'BBQ Party Card' interaction fragment. That's way more important than the arrows. Don't worry, I'll make you some more arrows tomorrow."

Since her cat squad had become more adept at fighting evil spirits, the drop rate of interaction fragments had drastically decreased. Last time, nine monsters dropped eight fragments, but this time, 24 monsters only yielded seven fragments—a significant drop in rate!

"You really love using those interaction cards, don't you? It's a pity that after we came back from the flower field, we immediately had to fight the evil spirits and didn't get to enjoy the hot springs," Ji Mianmian remarked, her heart beating a little faster as she recalled holding hands with Shuo Yu's little cloud figure.

In truth, she enjoyed using the interaction cards too.

But as long as Shuo Yu was online, Ji Mianmian didn't mind what they did, or in what form she appeared.

Shuo Yu didn't have the heart to tell her that she was saving that particular interaction card for when all five senses were fully activated. Just thinking about being able to touch the cat-eared girl with her own hands made Shuo Yu's body heat up slightly, her mind filled with desire.

She opened the crayon-drawn map and checked the direction of the paw markers representing the cats.

"Little White and the others have already gone home. Let's head back too."

Upon returning to the medical center, Shuo Yu saw that the cats had taken excellent care of the five new arrivals. She felt a surge of satisfaction, like a parent watching their children grow up.

She greeted each of the five new cats, successfully adding Duo Duo, Short Tail, Xiao Hutu, Lu Zai, and Hei Zai to her cat encyclopedia!

As she was busy registering the new cats, Ji Mianmian waved her hand with a smile. "Sis, I'm a bit tired. I'm going to change my clothes and rest."

Shuo Yu carefully observed her, making sure the cat-eared girl's emotions were as usual—there was no trace of the sulkiness she had shown last time when Shuo Yu had been preoccupied petting Ah Jin and hadn't paid her enough attention. Only then did Shuo Yu allow Ji Mianmian to leave.

However, now that there were more cats in the safe zone, even fetching water had become a challenging task.

After petting the new arrivals like Duo Duo, the original residents began meowing for attention, demanding their share of affection.

After petting Ah Jin and the others, the cats in the medical bay, who still had one more day of recovery, started getting jealous.

Shuo Yu had never noticed how clingy the cats were, but today, she finally experienced the joy of being surrounded by them.

Amid the chorus of meows, she even felt a sense of regal satisfaction, as though she were a ruler in the midst of her cat-filled harem!

The elegant Bai Consort, the clingy Jin Concubine, the delicate Lu Attendant—every fluffy little cutie that meowed was like a piece of her heart!

After finally managing to satisfy all the cats, Shuo Yu quickly made an excuse to slip away.

"Mianmian got caught by the evil spirit earlier, so I'm going to go comfort her. Goodnight, everyone, don't fight. You're all my precious darlings!"

She then escaped to the master bedroom door, turning the handle and knocking. "Knock, knock." (In English)

After doing that, she felt a bit silly.

Although Ji Mianmian looked human, she probably didn't understand English.

Just as Shuo Yu was about to knock again and use a different greeting, she heard the cat-eared girl's sweet and curious voice from inside:

"Who's there?" (In English)